Tidal Has Begun Selling Select Artists’ CDs Because CDs Are the New Vinyl and the Past Is the Future

As previously reported, Prince made good on his word and exclusively released his latest album, HITNRUN Phase One, via the music-streaming service Tidal. This might've been upsetting to Prince fans, but that exclusivity pact ended Monday, when the album became available to all music retailers — including Tidal. Yep, in what is an unexpected first for the company, Jay Z's brainchild has branched out to also sell individual CDs and digital downloads (at least for Prince, for now). A hard copy of the record goes for $25.58 (thanks to shipping and handling), and the downloads cost $9.99 (for MP3) and $17.99 (for HiFi quality). It's unclear if other Tidal artists' projects will enjoy the same distribution, as a rep for the company told Billboard it's "up to artists to choose whether to offer alternative formats of their music on the service." At the moment, you do not need an active subscription to purchase music from Tidal (but you do need to create a free account). At the moment, it's good to be a Prince fan again.

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